


Rainbow Palettes

by PeachGO3



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Blow Jobs, Fluff, Hand Jobs, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Outer Space, Pining, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), this includes that one deleted scene from Ragnarok from the Sakaar escape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:48:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26648530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachGO3/pseuds/PeachGO3
Summary: Thor couldn’t care less about people who only associate the colour green with Bruce Banner – his feelings for him are much more colourful. Set between Ragnarok and Infinity War 🗲
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Thor, Loki & Thor (Marvel)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 73





	Rainbow Palettes

**Author's Note:**

> I’m gonna pretend that the Asgardian ship was in space a whole while before the beginning of Infinity War. I love how GammaHammer keeps reminding me of rainbow colours, which is why I finally wrote this down (like… _FINALLY_. It’s been _YEARS_ )
> 
> Enjoy!

**I. the purple shirt**

The de-Hulking process was less intense than the last time, and yet Thor felt helpless at the sight of Banner’s writhing frame on the floor. The Hulk had stumbled away from where he and Thor had been sitting when the transformation had kicked in. Thor was clueless as to its trigger.

Banner groaned in agony, his almost-human back cracking calamitously. The lullaby was worthless in this stage of turning back. All Thor could do was provide company in this moment – he knew that, and it frustrated him to no end.

“Thor…! Thor?”

“Yes! Yes, I’m here. Easy, I’m here.” Thor huddled closer to him on the ground. He was careful to not appear frightening because of the intrusion of Banner’s personal space. Last time Thor had noticed how heightened Banner’s senses had been after turning back, before his powerless body fell flat on the floor.

“You’re back,” Thor said softly, extending a hand to caress Banner’s sweaty shoulders. They were unnaturally warm beneath his fingertips. Thor shushed his discombobulated mumblings and shifted to cradle his naked body.

All Banner did was shudder and mumble Thor’s name over and over.

“Yes, I’m here. You’re back, it’s fine. You didn’t turn into the Hulk forever.”

“Forever…? Did we win? What happened?” Banner groaned, looking up at him through tiny eyes. His breathing was laboured.

Thor softened. “That is a long story. Come on, you should lie down.” He picked him up from the ground and liked how Banner tried to hold onto him. It showed him that his senses were coming back.

“Oh my God, are you missing an eye?”

Thor hummed agreement as he laid him onto the bed, where Banner awkwardly pulled the blankets over his lower half despite the half-dark of the room. Thor strategically sat down onto the edge in a way that blocked Banner’s view to the window showcasing the stars. He feared their sight could be overwhelming so shortly after coming back.

Eyes closed, Banner pressed himself into the pillows with a pained face, pulling the blankets close. His arms glistened and his chest moved heavily. “I feel so weird…”

“You can rest now,” Thor said, running a hopefully comforting hand over his overheated skin. The softness of the moment was as intimate as it felt unearned. Of course had Thor wanted to see Banner again, but the transformation process was so debilitating that he felt guilty about the pain. Now he wanted to provide comfort.

“I hate turning green,” Banner breathed into the pillow, lips parted and brows furrowed.

“I know,” Thor said empathically. “You were of great help to us as Banner, too.”

“Was I,” he rasped, not speaking the words like a question, which made him sound disbelieving and angry.

“I told you before that you’re useful as yourself, too,” Thor smiled, but his attempts at cheering Banner up were unsuccessful. In his delirium, he rambled on and on about how people only ever cared about the big, green rage monster, and how sick he was of it.

“When they see Bruce Banner, all they see is green…”

“That isn’t true?” Thor sputtered with a disbelieving frown. He patted Banner’s back while the small man slowly but surely drifted off into sleep. Thor was not sure if he had been able to still hear his disagreement. He hoped he had, because it was a topic Thor was quite enthusiastic about. In his memories, Bruce Banner was a rainbow, and Thor pitied the people who only associated the colour green with him.

It had started back on the Helicarrier, when everyone onboard had been talking about a green beast that Thor could never see nor perceive. He remembered finding it downright ridiculous that said behemoth should dwell inside this tiny Midgardian man who constantly fumbled with his glasses. There was no green, just purple and beige and always looking as if he was trying to find a corner to hide in. In the midst of all these double-faced people, Banner seemed the only one who wore his heart on his sleeve.

Thor would have laughed about it all if he had not realised how serious the others were about it. It was not that long ago, but he was so much _younger_ back then. Ignorant and stupid.

Initially he had not cared about Bruce Banner at all. He did not like the tone he used to talk about Loki and how, ultimately, the man did not seem to be half as important as everyone made him out to be.

Were these people even stupid enough to dismiss the purple shirt Banner was wearing? It exuded calm and pettiness like little else. This could surely be no match for the God of Thunder. No true warrior would wear purple.

Of course Thor had been chastened in his view about humans and Banner once he had Hulked out. Chaos seemed to follow Thor wherever he went, and for a time, feelings of guilt had gnawed at him for tossing poor Midgard into such mayhem. Banner in particular. That man had been content with his awkward self and the monster inside of him. Aliens like Thor had forced him to leave his untroubled life behind.

Hulking out was a frightening concept. The Hulk seemed a completely different person rather than a mutated part of Banner; he was a raging beast and warrior. And that Banner had been able to contain such power inside of him had enhanced Thor’s respect for him.

He had tried to stay away from him eventually, because there was something fundamentally _weird_ about Banner that Thor could not pinpoint. It was not hard to stay apart, because they shared virtually no interest or characteristics, so they were almost always in different places anyway. Thor was brash, Banner was shy; Thor was loud, Banner was quiet, and where he withdrew and apologised, Thor would double down.

Thor always went back to Asgard with a feeling of content in his stomach. He refused to believe he avoided Banner because he feared him.

All these thoughts had seemed so loud back then and were now a soft, silent memory. Thor smiled and caressed Banner’s sleeping body. His heartbeat had steadied and his expression was less pained, although Thor would not exactly describe it as peaceful either.

The purple shirt, _that_ had looked peaceful. Not ‘petty’ or ‘pathetic’.

Thor withstood the impulse to press a kiss to Banner’s dark curls when he stood up. He should rest to regain his strength.

He sighed quietly as he watched Banner. He would need to tell him the whole story anew. How the Hulk had been in control of him.

Banner would probably ask about his eye again, and then Thor himself would have to live through it all over again. His father, Hela, Ragnarok, the evacuation –

But Banner would listen, surely. The way Thor knew him, he would have his back, would probably try and comfort him just as he had been comforted now. But maybe that was just wishful thinking. A king should not yearn for comfort. He ought to give it.

Banner owed him nothing.

Thor watched a little while longer, and his inner voice substantiated the decision to not kiss him goodnight. With quiet steps, he left the giant quarters that were meant for the King of Asgard.

**II. blue**

Weeks after the Battle of New York, the team had really come together, and Thor had found that he steadily learned to view Midgardians in a completely different light. In Banner’s case, blue light specifically. Stark’s laboratories in the Tower were all lit in the same calming hue.

As Banner was basically studying and experimenting all day, this was the kind of environment that Thor got to know him better in. The brilliant scientist rather than the vaguely dangerous time bomb. Now he seemed less like a calamity about to happen and more like a person, one broken by circumstances and battle.

When they talked, he and Thor connected about the smallest insignificances. Once Thor had gotten through the initial barrier of shyness, Banner liked to talk about his experiments just as much as Jane did. His enthusiasm about the tiniest findings was quite charming, if less explosive than Jane’s. His work was very important to him.

Sometimes when Thor visited everyone would have dinner in Banner’s laboratory. Those were no feasts, but they were intimate and had qualities other than song and glory. Well, sometimes song, when Stark had had a drink or two too much.

The team played an important role in expanding the image Thor carried of Midgardians. They were no longer tiny and short-sighted, at large, but interesting, each with their special little quirks that made Thor happy to be friends with them.

The blue light tinted Banner’s hair so naturally that Thor needed to get used to it being pitch-black again once they met outside the laboratory, save for the few grey hairs.

“Tony said you… wanted to go see Manhattan?”

“I’d love that, if you have some time to spare,” Thor smiled from above.

He remembered his father’s thoughts about being with humans so often. “Are you really going to visit Midgard again?” he had asked, his tone slightly weary.

“Yes, I’m going to, again,” Thor had answered, unwavering in his positivity about the matter.

New York City was pretty in winter. The architecture presented a pleasant contrast to the blue sky and white snow. “Don’t you have snow in Asgard?” Banner had asked, a steaming coffee cup warming his gloved hands. Thor had offered to warm them up, but Banner had declined politely, so he did not ask again.

“We do. The last age of winter was a long time ago though. Jotunheim is always snowy, but we avoid that realm.”

“Oh. Isn’t that… where… where Loki’s from?”

Thor hummed in agreement. “It is no comparison to Midgard’s beauty anyway. I like being here.”

“That’s fortunate,” Banner had smiled, and Thor had returned the gesture, ere blinking into the sun. The sky was clearer here.

Midgard’s winter air was so crisp it seemed to recharge his powers. Thor loved getting shown around by Banner, too, because he matched Midgard’s aura so much better than Rogers. Thor liked them both. But the fresh, earthing pull he perceived from Banner was more exotic to him, so he wanted to spend more time around him.

It was strange, he thought as they walked across a particularly beautiful bridge in this Central Park, that the radiation poisoning should make Banner feel more earthy than cosmic. Thor figured that it must work like a burning lens intensifying the kindness that was already there. Winters here were friendly, not deadly.

Thor had tried touching him often – just casually enough to make it seem accidental, because there was something about Banner’s sweet touch that felt cool to Thor’s Asgardian skin. Not in the sense that Banner was lifeless, it felt more like a breeze on a hot day. Like that ice cream that Barton had made him try, like a shower under a faery waterfall. And all of it laced with that caring kindness.

A positive side-effect of Thor’s preference was that Banner finally ‘got out’. Stark encouraged Thor’s sightseeing tours with him because he was worried that Banner spent too much time in the laboratories. Thor had to admit, only ever seeing Banner in there was unrewarding. Now he got to know him better, beyond ‘is brilliant and doesn’t like large crowds or little spaces’.

Like this beverage – Thor knew Midgardian coffee from his time in New Mexico, but while Jane always took hers plain and simple, Banner had added the words “decaf” and “soy milk” to his order. Thor had been busy letting himself get photographed with other costumers, but he listened closely to Banner’s voice in order not to miss anything. He found that Midgardians’ food choices said a lot about them, even though he was unable to make head nor tail from “decaf” and “soy milk”.

“Your beverage,” he asked out of nowhere as they sat on a wooden bench by the water, “what kind of coffee is it?”

“Oh, that’s, um…” Banner bit his lip as though Thor’s question had been inappropriate, so he prepared to apologise. His concern seemed in vain though.

“It’s how I always have it. I know it takes a bit longer to prepare, so I’m sorry for letting you wait.”

“That was no problem. The other costumers wanted to take photographs anyway.”

“I’m sure they did,” Banner said and took a sip of the coffee. Thor regretted bringing that up. He wondered if Banner was unhappy about not getting recognised, although he knew how ashamed he was of the Hulk. It was a bittersweet tragedy, the more Thor got to know him, because Banner was just as worthy of admiration. His sense of self-worth was severely damaged.

Children were playing in the snow across the pathway without looking twice at the two Avengers on the park bench.

“So, is it a complicated recipe?” Thor asked, unfazed. He would have liked to touch Banner, but his winter attire was so thick it blocked every wisp of Midgardian magic. Gloves were annoying.

Patiently, Thor stroked a strand of hair behind his ear.

“No, not exactly,” Banner said. “Since the accident I can’t drink regular coffee anymore ‘cause of all the caffeine.”

Thor nodded. These stimulating effects were precisely the reason Jane liked to have coffee so much, but he could see how they would become troubling to Banner’s careful balancing act.

“And also I can’t have it black, ‘cause I find it disgusting, actually.”

“It isn’t my favourite either,” Thor agreed, thankful to find a similarity in conversation. “And what kind of animal is a soy?”

“W-what?” Banner had asked with what Thor had learned was called a ‘double-take’. He looked confused.

“The kind of animal whose milk you’re having in your coffee,” Thor had clarified with a smile, one that had made Banner laugh so brightly, just like the gentle winter weather, that a puff of air had crystalised in front of his face. He had then fumbled around with his gloved hands around the cup, and Thor had felt that, despite his misinformed question, the bond between them was growing fonder.

After that day, just the sight of Banner had filled him with joy. He should despair at the thought of never seeing him again after Sokovia. It was as though the broken nature of Bruce Banner had finally crumbled to irreparable pieces. Like a boulder of Midgard had been broken away from the planet’s earth and left it to mourn. It threw Thor off-balance.

**III. the colours of sakaar**

The joy about having found him, or rather the Hulk, in the Grandmaster’s arena had electrified Thor’s veins in a way he had never experienced before. Maybe there had been something about the adrenaline in his body or the readiness to fight the feared Champion of Sakaar that made sparks rush through his blood.

Again, what had been presented to Thor as a violent and mindless monster had turned out to be a dear friend – even though the Hulk now lived in spacious quarters of ugly red and white design and did not want Thor to leave the planet to save Asgard from Hela.

After the Hulk’s violent transformation back to Bruce Banner, Thor’s main task had been taking care of his disorientated friend rather than planning their escape.

By the time they would eventually escape, in that colourful spaceship meant for celebrating orgies, Thor had had to rethink his priorities. Banner had flown the ship absolutely admirably, in a way that had pleasantly surprised Thor (despite the seven PhDs), and after the Valkyrie had taken over the helm, Thor was down to _kiss_ this tiny Midgardian in the midst of an escape flight.

A lot had happened. Not only had Banner needed comfort and company in his time after the transformation, no, now Thor was able to touch him again, and he realised how much he had missed it, this earthing pull of magic that radiated from Banner’s small body.

Thor touched him at every given opportunity. It became an unconscious habit in stressful situations, as though his mind wanted to draw comfort from the cooling breeze that was Bruce Banner’s touch. It was still the same after everything that had happened.

His body intrigued Thor in another, more sexual way, too, even though Banner had not physically changed much since the events surrounding Ultron. Maybe it was the way he carried himself, or how he leaned into Thor when they hugged, or how he laughed and smiled and mirrored Thor’s touches in a way that felt almost _needy_.

Needy of comfort, Thor had chastened himself. Needy of companionship, _and not the sexual one_. Thor could not imagine someone like Banner liking him in this way, especially not after they had bonded over things so much more precious than physical pleasure.

And yet, he often thought back and wondered what would have happened if they had kissed back on the Grandmaster’s ship when it had staggered in the storm around the wormhole and Banner had grabbed Thor as they fell backwards.

Thor had been able to keep them from tumbling out of the open hatchway while Banner had hung onto his torso like an ape – a very cute and clumsy ape with wide brown eyes who clutched Thor’s naked arms in a way that should not feel pleasurable if someone was under as much stress as Thor was in that moment.

When they had regained their footing, his gaze had wandered and found the pulsating green vein at Banner’s head. Thor then thought it best to honour his request of getting strapped into a seat before he turned into the Hulk forever.

That would have been terrible. Bruce would have been trapped, unconscious, lost forever. The Hulk had grown to be Thor’s friend, but the loss would have been unmatched.

Also, the Hulk could not touch Thor’s arms the way Bruce did, and he could not talk about scientific theories like he did. He would not stand on his tiptoes to bear-hug Thor.

After Thor had grown to take so much pleasure, innocent _and_ sexual, in Bruce’s earthing presence, he could not have borne losing him to the Hulk – who was fun, yes, but lacked Bruce’s peaceful Midgardian qualities, and his charming smile, and his warm brown eyes. He was more of a buddy than anything else. The Hulk could not look up at Thor through thick lashes and bat them at him. He had never shown romantic or sexual interest in anything, which, coming back to Banner, was a silver lining for Thor.

Banner _did_ have to ability to love, he just could not succumb to it because of the Hulk.

Thor had cursed things for being so complicated and how these two could not get along, like two children, until he remembered that he, too, had not gotten along well with either of them at first.

His feelings were invalid anyway, because Banner, as expected, saw a bigger picture than making out with some alien from outer space. For Asgard’s sake, he had sacrificed himself by calling for the Hulk despite knowing he might take over forever.

The softness Thor felt in his heart over this selfless act was the kind of way he wanted to remember his friend – soft and kind and surprising him again and again.

So, in a way, the Hulk shrinking back into Banner in the middle of his quarters had been a shock for Thor, a chaotic resurfacing of his feelings. But joy had soon taken over. Banner’s only inconvenience was losing his glasses.

He was as lively as ever; even the fact that he was inside yet another pressurised metal container seemed insignificant to him. Where before he had been desperately trying to stay under control, he now seemed relaxed, excited only in positive rather than stressful ways. He matched the blue interior of the ship perfectly.

He touched Thor a lot.

“Where should I sit down?”

“Oh, anywhere,” Thor smiled and waved around the dining hall for emphasis. A little girl said hello to Bruce as they looked for a vacant seat.

The hall was meant for the Grandmaster’s crew, but Thor liked it much better than the dining room attached to his own quarters. It was livelier, and Banner had said that he did not mind the large crowd if they went together, so here they were, dining with all the others.

Banner eyed the noodles in his bowl with a soft smile. “I remember these. I ate them back on Sakaar, too. They weren’t half bad. No bugs in this one either.”

Thor just smiled and folded his hands. “I don’t know how they taste, I, I haven’t eaten for a while.”

“For real?” Banner asked. He looked worried.

“No, it’s fine, really. Enjoy your meal. You must be hungry.”

Banner stirred through the bowl with his chopsticks. “Here,” he said, “at least try some.” He offered Thor the noodles on the chopsticks, holding them up carefully. His brown eyes concentrated on not letting the food fall, and his lips thinned in what looked like an attempt to keep his tongue from poking out.

Thor’s heart skipped a beat. He could not say no to this, could he?

Awkwardly, he leaned in and ate, hissing because of the spicy sauce. His head was on the brink of exploding when Banner asked how it tasted, smile practically dripping from his voice.

Thor coughed violently. “I’m fine…! I’m fine, really.”

“Yeah? Should I go get help?”

“Naah, I’m fine…! It’s good…! Delicious! Love it!”

While the ship continued its way to the nearest planet for supplies before going to Midgard, Thor took the time to show Banner everything he had explored so far. The ship was so big that he had not seen every room himself. One that Heimdall had recommended them was at the stern, where a small window allowed watching the ship’s trail through the stars and their multi-coloured haze.

Thor liked the intimacy of it but decided to walk away almost instantly when he felt his heart jump again. “I think Heimdall wanted to talk about a – a course correction or something.”

“Thor? Thor, where are you going?”

“To Heimdall. About the course correction.”

He wasn’t afraid of Bruce Banner. There was no reason to be afraid. He was so relaxed the Hulk would probably not come out if he asked him to. And even if he did, for whatever reason – the Hulk was no danger when Thor and the Valkyrie were around. He was their buddy now. He wouldn’t smash them. If the radiation monster was no threat, then how could the tiny Midgardian possibly be?

The next morning, Banner waved to Thor from across the dining hall, with a smile that lit the air around him like a halo.

Thor was not afraid of Bruce Banner.

**IV. red**

“I won’t stay long,” Banner had said. He just wanted a place to read. It turned out that this ship was equipped with several electronic pads that contained scientific knowledge the Grandmaster had collected from all parts of the galaxy over the years.

Banner was fascinated by it.

“This is amazing,” he said and pointed the pad to Thor from where he was sitting on the sofa. He pulled his legs close to himself.

“This is a species that communicates exclusively with the movements of its wings.”

“Fascinating,” Thor agreed with a smile. He couldn’t care less about stupid winged aliens when Banner was sitting shoeless on his sofa, body loosely wrapped by the blue softness that passed as his new attire, and smiling in a way that challenged the starlight outside the window. He was so relaxed Thor wanted to cry. When was the last time he had seen him be this soft?

Thor took a quiet sip from the drink in his hand as he kept watching. “You look tired,” he noted truthfully.

“Yeah,” Banner drawled, stretching his limbs. His neck looked exquisite, but Thor did not like how the shirt covered his arms. He wanted to see them.

“I should probably go to bed.”

“Yes,” Thor said enthusiastically and heaved himself up, “maybe you should.” He went around the sofa and touched Banner’s shoulder over the backrest, squeezing it gently to milk some Midgardian touch out of it through the fabric. It was so loose he could see his naked collarbones.

“Here,” Banner said and held the pad’s next page up for Thor to read, who found the much more interesting move was Banner laying his soft hand onto his own to hold it tenderly.

“Look at how beautiful their wings are! I mean, it’s kinda horrifying that the Grandmaster cut them off for his collection, but they look magnificent. Here, you see that? They have scales that cause an interference of light, that’s why they shimmer like that. Four hundred and fifty to seventy nanometers. I mean, I’m so expert, but that’s the general wavelength, you know?”

Thor listened intently. The way Banner lost himself in these scientific facts despite his tiredness was adorable.

“Isn’t that crazy? None of these colors are really there, they’re not pigments. It’s just the light on the scales, the optical interference transforming it…”

Thor wished he would stop talking and instead use his mouth to kiss him. Banner had pretty lips. In the right light, they shimmered in light pink tones. Thor had thought a lot these past days about how a kiss from them would feel like. And taste like. Bruce preferred sweet or spicy dishes. Would he like the taste of Thor’s lips?

Would he allow himself to come undone if his body were intertwined with Thor’s in love, soaked and unbounded?

Thor’s loud thoughts were interrupted by Banner snoring beneath him, pad in his hands, head resting against the big cushion, and Thor softened immediately. His whole body went mellow at the sight.

Carefully, he took away the pad and looked for a blanket. He unceremoniously decided to loosen his cape instead, and draped it over Banner’s small body.

It looked good in contrast to that blue shirt. A part of Thor touching him in ways that Thor himself yearned to do.

But for all the beautiful colours he connected to Banner, red was the most unnatural one. When you thought about it, it seemed strange, because both Midgardians and Asgardians bled red. Red was among humanity’s most natural colours. It should seem weird that someone as thoroughly Midgardian as Bruce Banner could not be connected to it smoothly.

As Thor watched him, he thought that was precisely because red _was_ the colour of blood.

Banner despised violence. His soul was gentle and clear and crisp, like a winter day in New York. But he perceived himself as a threat; he did not want to hurt others and was traumatised by the damage the Hulk could do – damage that was not his natural disposition, because it stemmed from an inhuman experiment, and yet these rays made Banner feel so human beneath Thor’s Asgardian radiance.

Thor had courted violence until not so long ago. He must have seemed so disgusting to Banner, he thought and closed his eye.

Banner still held his hand.

Gently, Thor withdrew. Shame rose from his stomach and rested in his cheeks. He was a coward. If he could not even face the man he loved, then could he lead a people he loved?

“I think you are made for it, literally,” Loki shrugged.

“You don’t understand,” Thor said, pacing the dressing room at a considerably slower speed than his brother, which served as an involuntary indicator of just how flustered he was.

“I remember a time where all you ever wanted was to get crowned,” Loki argued as he played with an amulet in his hands. “Now you are. And you’re doing great, believe me. I would notice if they held a grudge against the both of us.”

Thor shook his head, finally sitting down. “No,” he whispered, fixating the golden doorframe. “If I can’t work up the courage for the simplest tasks, then how can I be a courageous king?”

“Who needs courage for that?” was Loki’s initial reaction, but then he stopped walking altogether, and Thor grew uncomfortable under the feel of his sharp eyes watching him. “What do you mean, ‘the simplest tasks’?” Loki asked, confusion lacing his voice.

“Nothing, forget it.”

A hopeful pause. But then, rushing to Thor’s side, Loki whispered, “You are not talking about the beast, are you?” His bright eyes narrowed. “Him, out of all the people onboard? I would humbly suggest you find yourself a more gracious toy, brother.”

“Stop befouling him with that tone of voice,” Thor all but snarled, which made Loki’s eyes wide and his lips thin. He clapped his hands and flew from the couch with one swift motion. “So, it _is_ him?” he asked thoughtfully. “And you are scared to confess to him?”

Thor sighed. It was no use to try and deceive a God of Deceit. Attacks on Thor’s manliness were unacceptable – only did he not lack the self-awareness to deny them with the fury that the old love sagas dictated: “Who would have known that the small scientist from Midgard would be the one to break my brother’s spirits?”

“That’s… nonsense. I am the God of Thunder. I’m not scared of Bruce Banner.”

Loki crossed his arms. “I don’t doubt that, even though it pierces my heart with disappointment to see you love him, because it was him who beat your poor brother to pieces and threw you, too, like some undignified dog toy.” He inhaled meaningfully and added, “I think you’re rather afraid of yourself.” And he started walking again, musing, “Or of the two of you together. Of romance.”

“I’m not afraid of romance,” Thor protested with a snort. “You know about my romantic conquests, better than anyone else.”

“It’s amazing how you try to talk yourself out of this,” Loki exclaimed, dropping the theatrical approach completely. “You’re not very good at it, want some advice?”

“I don’t need your silver tongue for myself.”

“Indeed, what you need is to realise that your problems are two very different animals. Literally,” Loki said with both hands pointing forward and only continued speaking when Thor kept on frowning at him in despair. He really was in need of a confidant, only Loki was the worst confidant in all of the nine realms.

“Your ability to lead your people as the new King of Asgard – a position to which you are the rightful heir…” – “Stop it.” – “…is in literally no correlation to you not being able to tell that scatter-brained scientist that you like him. You’re not stupid, you can get that into your head, can’t you?” Loki asked with a genuine expression. “Isn’t this the kind of advice you came here for?”

Thor softened. “I don’t know what I came here for. But I do feel better now.”

His brother looked rather proud to be of help in this matter, and it warmed Thor’s heart despite its reluctance to accept his words. He remembered the time when Loki had repeatedly been his voice of reason. It was not long ago.

“Thank you,” Thor said and got up to hug him. With two hands on his shoulders, he eyed Loki’s twinkling features.

“How we’ve come back to our former selves, brother.”

“As has Bruce Banner,” Loki sighed. “There’s something so… _human_ about him when he’s not big and green,” he added with disgust lacing his voice, but even that could not stop Thor from beaming: “Right?”

Loki shifted then, his expression changing to concern as he tried to think of how to phrase his next question. “Honestly though, aren’t you afraid of… you know…?”

Careful gestures illustrated what he meant, and there was an uncomfortable pause as Thor tried picturing himself in that situation. “I could handle the Hulk,” he said.

“In bed?”

“I could _supremely_ handle the Hulk in bed.”

Loki exhaled in disbelief. “Wow, you really have come back to your former self.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“That hoofed girl, from Vanaheim?” Loki asked with a frown. “She was seven feet tall, not including the horns.”

“What – pff, no. That was ages ago. Also, Banner and Hulk, they’re like, two different people.”

“Still just as uncomfortable.”

“She was very thoughtful.”

“I bet she was, with a frontal lobe like that.”

Thor crossed his arms. “Tse, stop it.” And for a second he thought that his brother would honour his request for once, but with a shake of his head, Loki told him, “I am not fond of your type, brother.”

“At least I have a type,” Thor said, but it was without malice. His brother did not mock him, for all the things he said. Surprisingly, Thor seemed to have his support in that regard. It meant a lot to him.

“Nobody’s perfect,” Loki replied as he made his way to the door. “Oh, pardon me, I should know better than to say this to a man in love.” He smiled mischievously. “Sweet dreams, brother.”

“Yeah, goodnight.” Thor stroked his beard when the door closed. He should return to his room and get to the bed dead-quietly to not wake up Banner. Or should he just sleep here in this closet?

He should probably sleep in this closet. Just to avoid discourteousness, not because of fear.

* * *

Bruce jumped awake when the doors swished open. “Thor?” he asked, rubbing his eyes. The alien device laid neatly on the backrest, he noticed as someone approached fast. He realized a little too late that these swift steps did not belong to Thor – “Good evening,” Loki’s honey-like voice fluted.

Bruce groaned and massaged the bridge of his nose. He was too tired for this.

“Is everything all right?” Loki asked, hands folded, not even bothering to try and hide his tongue-in-cheek tone of voice.

“I’m fine… Where’s Thor?”

“Uhh, not sure,” Loki said with a look around, his eyes wide.

Bruce shivered and rubbed his arms slowly. So, it really was like that, wasn’t it? “Is he angry with me?” he asked, immediately regretting his openness toward Loki, _Loki_ , the one who wanted to take over Earth with an alien army.

Of course he ran wild with Bruce’s worries: “I’m not sure about that, dear friend! You should not evoke the wrath of the King of Asgard. God of Thunder. Thor Odinson. Deadly mistake.”

Bruce could have kicked himself out into open space for feeling so hurt by such a petty attack.

“He has been behaving strange lately, has he not?”

“Yeah. I mean, apart from everything that has happened,” Bruce sighed. He remembered how Thor would avoid his gaze, or answer a smile with a look that Bruce would’ve thought he’d reserve for his worst enemies.

He really thought they had something going on. But now he was just scared. It must have been something the Hulk had done that Bruce could not remember. Something that had to do with Asgard’s trauma, undoubtably.

Were they still friends? “What are we?” Bruce asked, barely above a whisper.

Biting cold made him look up. Asgardians had usually a radiant warmth about them. Bruce enjoyed Thor’s, it was kind and welcoming, but when it was Loki, the radiation felt downright horrifying. Bruce breathed in with a hiss at having his personal space invaded by literal frost. It made his hairs stand.

_Hulk don’t like Loki._

“If only we had a clue,” Loki sung, faux innocent eyes piercing so uncomfortably that Bruce had to look down. His gaze dropped to the blanket in his hands, only it wasn’t a blanket – it was Thor’s cape, deep red and flowing. Laid on top of him?

Eyes wide, Bruce looked at Loki again, who smiled knowingly. Bruce now grinned, too, heartbeat speeding up. He used his new-found energy to scare and chase away the mischievous intruder, whose stumbling flight to the door he enjoyed shamelessly.

With the cape still in his fists, Bruce let himself fall back into the giant pillow. He smiled so much he had to close his eyes, not bothering to think about what Loki had actually come here for. The thought of Thor tucking him in made his heart race, in a way that he had almost forgotten.

_Hulk LIKE Thor! Thor good._

Just don’t get too excited, he reminded himself. Breathe. Stay in control, you can handle this. You can work from here, everything’s fine after all. You’re friends.

* * *

Loki had thought it would be bad, but wow. They were both as easy to see through as they were oblivious. Obviously. And the beast was a psycho after all – Thor’s problem now. Better to stay out of this one.

**V. shades of gold and yellow**

On the next day, the ship entered the nearest planet’s scanning range, and, in line with Heimdall’s visions, the inhabitants were hospitable and agreed to provide Asgard with food, water, and clothes for their journey to Midgard.

The aliens picked up a few people in their spherical shuttlecrafts. Thor, of course, went first. Banner insisted on staying by his side. Together with Heimdall and about a dozen other Asgardians, they were brought to a market on the surface, where they could choose their supplies from the farmers and artisans. The air smelled of exotic spices, and lots of aliens from other worlds visited at the same time. It was a vivid hustle and bustle.

The constant tugging at Thor’s armour told him that Banner was uncomfortable with not understanding their language whenever Thor spoke.

If he had survived the parade on Sakaar without Hulking out, then Thor would help him survive this farmer’s market as well.

Carefully, he manoeuvred them through the crowd, always shielding Banner’s tiny frame with a protective arm in front of him. The loss of his eye had never bugged Thor like it did just now, when he was looking out for possible danger and despaired at his limited field of view.

“What would you like?” he asked, bending down to avoid the need for shouting.

“Oh, err… I don’t know,” Banner called back. He ducked his head, looking around nervously, and Thor extended a comforting hand to his elbow. He had suggested he wear something with shorter sleeves earlier on, something that showcased his muscular arms (Thor hadn’t said _that_ part of course, he wasn’t a bloody idiot).

The colour was a bright yellow. It matched this planet’s sunflower sky.

“It’s so weird,” Banner said with a look around. “You’re just another alien here!”

“Yeah,” Thor commented the obvious. “So are you.”

“Yeah, but I’m just a human,” Banner said dismissively. “You’re gods! Are you all gods? I think you are. And you’re their king, shouldn’t you all be more…? I don’t know, maybe I’m being unfair to the inhabitants.” He swallowed and looked up at Thor with a confused frown. “Am I being unfair?”

Unprepared for so much charm at once, Thor began stuttering. Banner’s pull was very strong all of a sudden, and Thor all but grabbed him when another alien bumped into them.

“Y-you’re being totally reasonable,” he said loudly, adding a boisterous laugh for emphasis. “I’m honoured by your indignation.”

“Y-yeah? Thanks.”

“Yeah!”

“Probably better this way though – a, a ceremony or something would be really stressful.”

“Yeah, imagine.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Hands all over each other – it was unintentional, it really was – they shuffled into the next best corner, where Banner placed a restless hand at Thor’s nape, and Thor needed all his self-control to not just lean down and devour him whole, him and his pretty little mouth. He needed to focus – Banner must not transform. He had been so calm these past few days that it was really stressful to see _him so_ _stressful_.

“Are you all right?” Banner asked, catching his breath.

Thor was surprised by the question. “Yeah, sure. Why?”

“Because of everything that happened?” Banner specified, eyes still fluttering from agitation. Thor carefully looked for green veins.

“Your sister, and… the throne…?”

“Y-yeah, I’m okay,” Thor said without really thinking about the answer. He was completely overchallenged. Must be the climate around these parts. They were both so hasty and touchy – this was no way to have a conversation, especially not after their talk à la ‘Asgardians are so great they should totally be guests of honour’. What a joke.

Thor tried collecting himself to thank Banner for being so considerate. It should serve as a diversion from the Hulk. Swaying a bit, he put a hand onto his magnetic cheek, saying, “Thank you for, for asking. Why did you ask?”

“That’s what friends do, right? We’re friends, right?”

“Friends?” Thor faltered, but smiled. His hand wandered. “Y-yeah, of course.”

“Right?”

“Yes, right.”

“Okay!”

“Okay. Okay, yes.”

They smiled unsurely at each other, patting shoulders and cheeks and arms. “Cool,” Banner said when they entered the main street again. There was a fruiterer that seemed to have caught his attention, and he pulled Thor there with clumsy enthusiasm. It now suspiciously felt like a diversion on Banner’s part, from something more important, but Thor did not protest. All he could do was comply, like a stone following gravity into the water to draw circles.

He watched with delight when Banner bite into a big, yellow fruit that the merchant had described as deliciously sweet. Banner liked it a lot but did not seem to notice that the sugary juice had spattered onto his face.

“Here – let me, let me help you, okay? There’s… yeah, right here.”

Carefully, Thor slid his thumb over the stubbly cheek to get rid of the spots, while steadying Bruce’s head with the other hand. He felt like drowning when warm brown eyes found his, smiling up, and Bruce leaned into the touch with a nuzzle of his head. Relishing the touch in a way that ‘friends’ did not do, normally. Did they?

“Your hands are always so warm,” he drawled, and Thor withdrew them at the speed of light instead of replying, ‘And yours are soft and cool like a spring shower’, like he should. Ever the coward.

They were friends, nothing more.

“It’s a miracle the other guy hasn’t come out yet,” Thor heard Banner say as his gaze wandered across his whole body, the curve of his behind, the muscles of his neck. There was golden glitter in his dark curls. Probably from one of the street performers. It fit him better than red.

**VI. fields of pink**

Before returning to the ship, they visited the coast at the edge of the town. It was a literal edge, a cliff coast, a thousand flowers reaching to the horizon left and right, with the ocean stretching out right before them. It shimmered pink in the dusk.

Here, in the field of flowers, Thor and Banner sat down to watch the sunset. “I’ll come get you later,” Heimdall said, and Thor wondered just _how much_ he could really see, leaving him and Banner alone in this beautiful place.

Not that he minded, on the contrary – Having an arm around Bruce and his small head leaning against Thor’s shoulder was something he did not dare do in front of others. He would rather have it like this, in the solitude of a planet he once read in school about. Faintly remembering it.

Sea birds cried in the distance, and a soft breeze stroked Thor’s naked arms. The silence was perfectly dreamish, but of course Thor had to ruin it with a memory that kept piercing his mind: “We were in a field like this with our father when he went to Valhalla.”

Bruce shifted, raising his head to look at Thor. “Oh… I’m sorry. If you want a moment alone-”

“No, it’s fine,” Thor said with a smile, mentally kicking himself. ‘Afraid of romance’, he recalled Loki’s remote diagnosis.

Bruce did not seem convinced.

“It’s fine! I like this field much better anyway. Lots of flowers… and… you.”

Bruce sighed and pulled away, taking his Midgardian magic with him. “Your father really messed up your family, didn’t he?” he asked, brows furrowed in compassion.

“Yeah – nah – look,” Thor rambled, “he was a terrible father. Locking away our sister, who he raised to be out for blood – he broke Loki’s heart, lied to us over and over again… Oh, and also not only grooming us to fight but actively telling us to kill each other, ha.” He paused, staring at the edge of the cliff with one good eye. Like his father. “He was a better king.”

Bruce put a gentle hand on his neck, and Thor turned to look at him. “ _You_ are a great king,” he said.

“Thank you,” Thor said, smiling half-heartedly at the sight of these brown eyes and the feeling of fresh mountain water on his skin. He felt discouraged. Was he not brave enough to even share a romantic moment with Banner? This did not relate to his reign in a good way.

But Banner’s hand was still on his neck.

Maybe Loki had been right about everything, and there was no need for being brave. Maybe this time, Bruce could be his bravery.

For the fraction of a second, a warmth rolled over Thor’s body, a comforting feeling of safety. He relaxed into Bruce’s touch, and Bruce seized the moment to go in for a kiss, pulling Thor toward him while pushing himself up.

He did taste sweet.

They were both out of practice, but somehow that made it better. Thor kissed him back as though he drank from a spring, sighing blissfully at the rasp of their beards touching. His hands were everywhere, trying to touch Bruce and his muscles in as many places as possible, and he moaned when Bruce touched his jaw to deepen their kiss further, licking through his mouth lusciously.

He was a bolder lover than Thor had expected. It made lightning course through his veins.

When Bruce pushed Thor back into the flowers, he lay on top of him with both hands cupping Thor’s face, and the universe came to a halt. Legs interlocked, hands stroked hair with gentleness. Both pulled away for air, breathing, nuzzling each other tenderly.

Bruce’s pink bottom lip was about the most beautiful sight Thor had ever laid eyes upon. Sighing, he closed his eye, trying to steady his breath. He felt Bruce’s fingers ghosting over the eyepatch and pulled him closer in a hug.

“Oh, that was good,” Bruce chuckled next to his ear, arms around his neck. He sounded relieved.

Thor hummed affectionately and snuggled closer. He mirrored Bruce’s action when he gently nipped at his ear, even though it seemed to fluster poor Bruce to no end. “You gotta stop… oh my God, I’m blushing…” He pulled away with a shy smile and raised both hands to cover his face.

Thor let him. All it took for Bruce to lower them was to press a kiss to his knuckles. The right hand remained on his face though, and a shy eye peeked through parting fingers.

Thor softened. He already loved it when Bruce blushed. He did not know whether it was the sky, or the flowers around them, but the pink intensified by the second.

“It’s so weird,” Bruce said. “The other guy – it’s like he’s never been here. Normally he’d already ripped everything to pieces, ‘cause my heartrate is way too high up, gosh, this is too much adrenaline, too much at once…”

“Maybe he’s learned to respect your privacy,” Thor said surprisingly casual, with a hand running up and down Bruce’s neck. There was so much levity in his chest, despite having him lie on top of him. No green veins.

“This is very embarrassing, I should’ve never-”

Oh, fucking no. Thor cut him off by pulling him down for another kiss before Bruce could continue this faulty line of thought. His lips parted instantly, moans thrumming warmly inside his chest, and Thor could feel all of it, hands everywhere, touch everywhere, a leg rubbing against his groin, lightning rushing through his body, oh _fuck yes_.

After some time, it was hard to tell where he ended and Bruce began.

“Y’know,” Bruce panted in-between kisses, “if we can do this – without him showing up-”

“You all right?”

“Yeah – that’s my point – we could – y’know, if you want…” A trembling hand, struggling to stay gentle, ran through Thor’s hair. “I haven’t gotten off in years,” Bruce panted. It should sound like a warning, but all Thor could hear was a plea, coming from his beloved, bubbling like spring water.

“I’m going to change that,” he thus whispered into his ear and shoved his hand down to finally get rid of those trousers.

“Oh, fuck, I need you,” Bruce whimpered, grinding against his arm, and Thor’s mouth went dry at how big he felt through the fabric alone. This was happening.

It was not happening. Heimdall interrupted them to announce that the ship’s loading had been completed. Thor cursed his all-seeing friend and the Allfathers for not granting them a few more minutes. Talk about privacy.

“The duties of a king,” Bruce shrugged with a smile.

“A king who can schedule his duties as he pleases.”

“No, no,” Bruce went, “it’s all right. I’ll just, um…”

“Drop by my quarters?”

“Tonight?”

“Right after boarding.”

“O-okay, I’ll, I’ll be there.”

“Fantastic,” Thor said, face earnest when he turned to Heimdall, who looked grateful for finally being able to get going. Thor watched the ocean as they walked, Bruce’s hand in his. The waves shimmered neon pink as they crashed in the night.

“Bioluminescence,” Bruce said quietly, and Thor squeezed his hand with a smile. “I’ve never seen it happen in this color!”

“Alien planets aren’t so bad, hm?” Thor asked.

“No, not when you’re with me,” Bruce said softly, and Thor could not comprehend how he could come up with something as cute as this and not expect Thor to stop and kiss him right away. A thunderstorm roared in the distance.

**VII. green**

It was clumsy and hasty at first, intense, like an explosion of lightning, and abating just as fast. They had fallen onto the bed like an avalanche and just jerked each other off, foreheads sliding and nudging, breaths ragged and hot. It was slippery.

As much as Thor loved that yellow shirt, it had to come off. He tore it from Bruce’s body as though it was made of paper, to give way to his Midgardian enchantment – it practically flowed out of him, connecting to Thor over his fingers as they roamed Bruce.

His hand around Thor’s cock was magical. He couldn’t believe it was over after only a few seconds.

Still out of breath, Thor leaned down to nudge Bruce’s head. His cheeks were wet, and he sobbed because he had not known that he was still capable of loving someone like this. He said that he was happy and thanked Thor over and over.

“I’m – I’m really sorry, that killed the mood, didn’t it?”

“Not mine.” Thor kissed his face, hips thrusting into just the sheets.

He had known before that Midgardians had much longer regeneration cycles than him, but he struggled violently to keep himself in check. He wanted more.

Leaving Bruce’s face, his mouth travelled down, drinking more of his magic. He wondered if Bruce was aware of how attractive he was and decided to tell him by whispering into his ear. When Bruce shivered, Thor nuzzled his chest hair and stroked his sides with hungry hands.

“It’s true… You’re gorgeous.”

Bruce rolled his head on the pillow with a moan, legs shifting bashfully, and Thor continued to move further down, resisting the urge to stroke himself at the sight of his beloved, so bare beneath him. Eye closed, he kissed his abs, licking them, feeling them tense beautifully beneath his tongue, and he sucked at the flesh in a way that would leave a mark.

Strangely, the situation was not half as scary as he had thought it would be. They had seen so many facets of each other that this one seemed only natural to be included in the mix.

“I, I don’t know if I can g-go another time.”

“Just tell me when you’re uncomfortable,” Thor said brusquely, the energy in his veins was already too high to talk big. He marvelled at the cock he had only held in his hand before, still shining with cum, oh, he would devour it. Giving it an appreciative long lick, he growled, “My mouth will pleasure you in any way you want. Do with me as you please.”

With that, he swallowed Bruce’s half-hard cock completely. The vibrations of his guttural moan made Bruce whimper above him, his hand finding Thor’s hair and sinking into it for stability.

Thor had never missed his long hair more badly than now.

But he still wanted to make the best of this. Bobbing his head up and down, he tried to find a speed that would get Bruce going again. It would be easier if he could just magically project his own overwhelming lust, but Bruce’s control of his head helped find a rhythm.

The hand rolling Bruce’s balls elicited the most delicate sounds from him, and Thor could feel his cock twitch against his gums, and Bruce moaned, writhing, crying – as though he was ashamed of himself.

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Thor pulled away to look at him from below, and oh, what a sight – parted lips, tousled curls, and that exquisite neck, all exposed so vulnerably for him to take –

Heaving himself up to be face to face with Bruce, he breathed, “I can stop anytime, just say it,” giving Bruce time to answer even though he wanted to kiss him so, so badly.

“I feel so dirty,” Bruce whispered, letting Thor caress his forehead. “I… I don’t wanna exploit you for this. Please don’t feel like I’m exploiting you.”

“I’m not,” Thor said, his voice gravelly and deep from love. His hand continued to Bruce’s cheek, and now Bruce looked at him through helpless eyes. “You’re beautiful,” Thor breathed, “and precious, and I love every part of you.” His self-restraint was at an end, and he sank his tongue into Bruce’s pretty mouth, humming blissfully when he was kissed back just as eagerly.

Bruce shifted beneath him, legs falling open. “This is so obscene,” he breathed in-between kisses, and Thor lowered his head to nip at his throat, _oh fuck_ , how he loved this neck.

“It’s – it’s just – look at you, oh my God – you already came, and you’re so ridiculously handsome… just look at your fucking arms, man…”

“You like them, yeah?” Thor moaned, deep in his throat, taken aback by such compliments. They stroked his ego shamelessly. He let his muscles play where Bruce could see them and observe how big they grew when Thor flexed them, because he knew it looked good when he did, and he wanted Bruce to watch.

Bruce did not only watch. Breath hitching in disbelief, his hands started roaming Thor’s biceps, desire seeping through his touch with such intensity that Thor shuddered, hips thrusting helplessly.

Thunder purring inside his chest, he pulled Bruce from the bed and placed him in his lap, both sitting upright, cocks sliding against each other.

Bruce hissed and inhaled sharply at their new position. He now could look down on Thor. “You’re so hot everywhere,” he breathed. His fingers graced Thor’s body. Lightning followed under Thor’s skin, getting dragged to everywhere Bruce touched him.

Thor’s eye fluttered at the sensation, he wanted to be touched everywhere at once. This still felt so unreal.

He let Bruce set the pace, let him kiss his arms and stroke his neck and finally, noses touching wearily, wrap a strong hand around his throbbing cock, mouths yearning to kiss.

Bruce’s breath shook on Thor’s lips.

Thor followed the gravitational pull, to kiss him and moan into his pretty mouth when Bruce’s free hand caught his nipple, pinched it, then the other, tweaking it so deliciously feral that it made Thor wonder what kind of lover Bruce Banner had been before his accident. It made his cock harden, and Bruce turned his wrist around it assertively. Thor grunted.

Holding Bruce steady with one arm wrapped around him, hand grabbing his beautiful throat, he met his rhythm, a perfect arrangement of thrusts, strokes, kisses, and helpless moans.

It was so easy from here.

Bruce’s seed spilled onto Thor’s hand in warm spurts, and Thor soon followed, sucked into the gravity of Bruce’s orgasm. Forehead pressed against Bruce’s, he tried to catch his lips, to bring order to this lusting chaos, and Bruce shoved his tongue inside his mouth at just the right moment, milking Thor’s climax as far as they could.

Sparks flew.

They breathed each other’s breaths for a few moments and steadied. The smell of fairy ponds mixed with that of sex.

Thor growled with relish when Bruce discovered how hard his cock still was. He caught some spunk and tentatively licked it off his fingers. “You’re a love machine,” he laughed, breathless and quiet.

“I would love you until kingdom come,” Thor growled, pressing him against his neck with hunger still roaring inside of him. It was true, Midgardians loved shorter and less intense than Asgardians. But when he felt Bruce’s hands stroking his back tenderly, he was more than content with cuddling for the rest of the evening. Everything for his beloved.

Pulling away, he looked at Bruce, bathing in his gravity and calming under his gaze. Affectionately, he traced the stubbly line of Bruce’s jaw. Bruce closed his eyes and leaned against his hand. If someone would tell Thor now that _this_ was the centre of the universe, he would believe them whole-heartedly.

He smiled. Wordlessly, he steadied Bruce’s back and helped him lie down on the sheets. He wanted to do this properly before going to fetch a cloth to wash them.

Bruce shifted beneath him, eyes small from exhaustion and cheeks bright pink. “Is that okay for you?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“I’m so sorry, I’m… not the youngest anymore, a-and…”

“Well, you’re not one thousand four hundred and ninety-nine,” Thor joked with a grumble, smiling against Bruce’s lips. Bruce chuckled and closed the distance between them with a tender kiss. He relaxed, that was the most important.

That tired and content chuckle was a sound Thor wanted to remember for the rest of his life.

Head filled with adoration only, he smiled into the kisses. Just when he thought they became a little too lascivious for simple goodnight pecks, a possessive hand pulled him closer by his nape, seizing the moment of surprise to hold him in place as Bruce’s tongue licked him out from all angles.

Thor did not understand what was happening, his head emptied further with every second, leaving only heat. All he could feel was Bruce, no, Earth grounding him in Bruce’s touch.

With more effort than expected, he pulled away for air, only to see that the pink blush on Bruce’s cheeks had turned green, as had his eyes, wide with power and hunger in the dark.

“What’s happening?” Thor breathed, senses coming back. “Are, are you all right? Love?”

The pet name made Bruce cry out, hands digging into the blanket.

“Are you in pain?”

“I’m fine,” Bruce answered and swallowed. It was his voice, no doubt. “Thor,” he said then, brows furrowing in helplessness.

Thor held his shoulders, alert.

“Thor, I think I changed my mind,” he said, hands roaming yet again. “I need you – again. I need you to fuck me, all right?”

“Y-yes?”

“Please, okay?” Bruce begged, hastily guiding Thor’s hand to his now rock-hard cock. Trying to be unsuspicious, Thor looked down. No green veins. Just throbbing pink ones.

“Are you feeling all right?” he asked, scared and turned on to the same extent.

Bruce whimpered at his barely moving hand, pulsating beneath him. “I feel… I feel _great_ ,” he growled, pillow bending beneath him, all muscles tense and fucking big – he would be all fucking tight around him – and Thor was about to lose his mind.

Loki’s warning rang in his ears, but he chased it away with a grunt.

He withdrew. Hastily, his eye searched the bed area for anything the Grandmaster might store in his spaceships for such occasions. Lube, protection, anything. He had never done without it, and he would not start now, despite the _unusual_ circumstances. Bruce Banner, continuing to surprise him.

“Thor?” Bruce whimpered, as though to check if he was still there.

“I’m here,” Thor said with an unsure laugh, adrenaline rising.

In a desperate act of crisis management, while being painfully hard himself, he bent over Bruce, cocks gliding smoothly, still coated in cum, and took them both in one big hand to squeeze them tight.

“Oh, fuck…!” Bruce tensed beneath him, lips parting in an outburst of Midgardian magic, making Thor gasp in awe.

Green. Green eyes, glowing. And green blush. All right. Get over it, Odinson.

After a moment of getting used to the sensation of being pressed so tightly against another pulsating cock, Thor started stroking up and down, fingers circling the tip of Bruce’s dick as best as he could, in what was hopefully a comforting touch.

Watching Bruce flash his green eyes at him almost made him forget to breathe. Green eyes, yes, but undoubtably his, with the same reassuring look, with the same charm that made Thor fall in love with him all over again.

It was getting difficult to keep himself up.

Carefully, Thor lowered his body, lying on top of Bruce while still stroking them joint. His free hand tried to touch Bruce in more places, his mouth kissed him everywhere he could reach, as if to map him.

Jerking into his strokes, Bruce panted next to him. In one smooth motion, he shoved two fingers inside Thor’s mouth, playing with the tongue that desperately tried to lick them. They still tasted of their seeds.

Thor closed his lips around them, moaning with deep relish as Bruce pulled them out and inside again, matching the rhythm of Thor’s hand, speeding up together with it. Green eyes flashing. Fingers pulling out all the way to smack Thor’s ass, slap against it, kneading it with both hands, pulling him closer.

“Is he jealous?” Thor asked, his face pressed firmly into the curve of Bruce’s neck. “O-or happy?”

“It’s not him,” Bruce grunted. “It’s not him, I don’t know what this is… but I like it…”

“So do I,” Thor growled, speeding up his movements.

“It’s like I can… _hah_ – I can finally…”

Bruce’s voice trailed off into a hymn of pleasure, moaning, crying, peppered with one-syllable curses and growls and ground teeth and bites into Thor’s shoulder.

And, Thor thought, this is it. This is the kind of lover Bruce Banner truly was. He had gotten a taste of it before, but now it hit him full force. Kind of amazing he had not realised it until now, because Bruce had never pretended to be anything else. Throbbing in Thor’s hand against his own dick, rock-hard and hungry for a touch that only now could truly satisfy him.

‘I can finally let go’.

Thor shuddered when Bruce took control of their rhythm, pulling him closer by his ass and simultaneously jerking upward into his hand. The intense friction made lightning spark behind Thor’s eye, and the ship roared dangerously as he neared his climax. His hand trembled around their cocks.

“Don’t stop moving, okay?” Bruce cried, hands urgent on Thor’s ass. He sounded as though they were rushing toward a ravine and crash.

That was where Thor was headed anyway. Down, to Earth. To New York City, to the winter three years ago, and the spring that had followed. To clumsy hands fumbling with a pair of glasses before waving to him. To acceptance, and brown eyes, and rainbow colours.

**VIII. stardust and rainbows**

Thor snored peacefully behind Bruce, warm arms wrapped around him to make the spooning perfect. Bruce snuggled into his touch as though it was a blanket. Warm and secure.

Outside, the stars floated by quietly. Bruce could watch them wonderfully from here. The nebulae were multi-colored, but so was the light of each star when you looked closely.

Bruce finally understood why Asgard’s connection to the universe was a rainbow bridge. Space is colorful.

He wondered if some kind of spacial anomaly or radiation had caused his state earlier. He smiled coyly as his mind wandered back. Thor had reassured him he’d been kind of rough already before that feeling had kicked in, and somehow Bruce wanted to leave it at that. That had been the best orgasm of his entire life.

It was not the other guy. By now Bruce could tell when his dangerous presence emerged from inside his mind to his organs and veins. He could even make out feelings and thoughts from the chemicals. But this had been different.

His eyes had not turned green since that time in British Columbia. Could the collapsing neutron star have something to do with it? Or Thor? Was this related to when the Hulk had randomly disappeared in his presence, despite liking him so much?

Bruce took a deep breath when he noticed the snoring was gone. Thor pressed warm kisses onto his neck and pulled him closer. Bruce turned in his embrace, legs tangling clumsily. Thor’s smile was all soft.

Only days ago Bruce had thought that the other guy had jeopardized that smile. But now it was shining for him alone. Putting his mind at ease.

Gently, Bruce pushed his nose against Thor’s, and his face broke into a smile when Thor’s fingers started playing with his chest hair.

“You look so rakish with that eyepatch,” Bruce smiled with a glance at his face. “Like a space pirate.” He paused as his gaze fell to Thor’s chest and rested on the white markings. “I didn’t think you’d have so many scars,” he said quietly. “Not to say you aren’t a fighter, it’s just… Somehow I thought you had healing powers, you know?”

Thor’s smile faded. “You are my healing,” he said and pulled him even closer, voice muffled against Bruce’s neck. “No one knows me like you do.”

“What?”

“It’s the truth. With you, I’m just my simple self, as I’ve always been, way back,” Thor whispered, pressing another kiss to his neck.

How cheesy. The intimate words made Bruce’s chest thrum with bliss. But his brain was quick to remind him of the threat he was, and how only Thor would be able to handle his kind of danger. “You aren’t when the other guy decides to show up,” he whispered. He hated to say things like this.

“I don’t want to hurt him, but this is not _about him_.” Thor pulled away to look at Bruce. “I dream about _you_. When I look into _your_ eyes, I sit in Central Park, I watch the sky. I touch you and feel like bathing in blue water. _That_ heals me. When I’m at peace, I’m my best self. Being around you leads to being me, inevitably. The Hulk is of interest for adventures of a different kind.” He smiled. “One of it, I got to share with you. And I thank the Allfathers for it with every prayer I speak.”

Wow. Bruce fell completely silent. No kings, no monsters, not even aliens or doctors. Just being themselves when the two of them were together. Two slightly broken people. Was that it? Was it? What was it?

In front of him, Thor softened with a snicker and started caressing him. “Ah, you know, for someone as intelligent as you, you look really cute when you’re confused.”

Bruce sighed and went back in to hug him. Melt into his warmth, his smiles, his body full of love and thunder. Deep inside that strong chest, Bruce could hear a heart boom with the power of a storm.

He whispered, “It’s a lot. I mean, actually it’s easy, it’s the easiest thing in the world… People always say that, right?” He pressed his forehead against Thor’s chest. “Of course I’m confused. Suddenly – I can let go when I’m with you. It’s like I got my old life back. Only less douchey.” He closed his eyes. “No, that’s not right either. Gosh. All I know is that I feel so incredibly good when I’m with you. How can we feel so alike about each other?”

“Because we’re…” Thor stopped speaking, and Bruce decided to complete the phrase for him: “We’re an item now?” He looked up hopeful, but now it was Thor’s turn to look confused.

“You know, we are… involved, aren’t we? Are we? Oh God-”

“No, no, no, wait!”

“No, it’s stupid, I’m, I, I mean, we are-”

“Involved in what? Involved in, like-”

“Love?” both asked.

Thor’s face beamed like summer lightnings as he started laughing in relief. “Yes!” he exclaimed. “Yes! I love being involved in your love. We’re totally involved! In love!”

As much as Bruce loved listening to his boisterous, thundering voice, he had to kiss that beautiful face now. His lips cut him off, but Thor continued to hum into their kiss, and his hands ran up and down Bruce’s body. Their muscles slid so gently as though they had been made for one another.

It made his heart race beautifully. And he thought he could stay like this forever, bedded between Thor and the stars outside.

_Hulk LIKE Thor…!_

“Shut up,” Bruce whispered blissfully. This was his. His alone. No Hulk, only Banner.

“I didn’t – I didn’t say anything,” Thor whispered back, panic tinting his voice, but it only made Bruce laugh. He wanted to roll them around but of course wasn’t strong enough to do so, so he just ended up chuckling against Thor’s chest and ravelled in his warmth.

“So, you dream of me, huh?” he teased. He got a storm kiss in return.

* * *

“Psst, Loki!”

Loki turned around, eyes scanning the corridor. The sparks in the air were unmistakeably his brother’s. “Thor?” he asked. Did he really think he could hide from him?

Loki found him in an alcove a few feet behind, trying to make his gigantic body disappear behind the architecture. He looked stressed.

“What is it?” Loki asked, only to get yanked forward to hide together. Thor held him in place with both hands and looked around with a wide eye.

“Thor…?” Loki asked carefully.

“Yes, brother,” Thor said as though he had only heard him now. He smiled shakily and spoke uncharacteristically fast. “I, err, I need your help with something, I require the services of your magic.”

“Pardon?” Loki asked with raised eyebrows. The last time he had heard that sentence was in such a wildly different context that he closed his eyes in irritation.

“Your magic! You, err, you can do potions, right? You make amazing potions.”

“I did, back in the days.”

“Yes, that’s what I mean.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, I need you to brew me a potion, all right?” Thor asked with concentration, as though he could instil an idea in Loki’s mind with just his stare.

“What kind?” Loki asked, only realising after he spoke that he did not want to know, actually, and should not engage in this conversation at all.

“An aphrodisiac,” Thor whispered with his head down.

“Come again?”

“You heard me right, brother,” Thor hissed and looked down the corridor like a paranoid. Time to get out of his grip… “Listen,” Loki said carefully, “if you genuinely think drenching potency remedy to a raging radiation monster is a solution to whatever your problem is, I need you to lock yourself in the ship’s brig.”

“What?”

“I don’t even have the ingredients to-”

“Not for him, bloody Allfathers, it’s for _me!_ ”

Loki blinked into his brother’s lost face and frowned even deeper. “You?” he asked so loudly that Thor shushed him with yet another iron grip around his shoulders and a hand on his mouth that Loki could remove concerningly easy.

“You?” he repeated, irritation now mixing with the slightest glimmer of mischievous amusement.

“Yes, for me, now if you would lower your-”

“You, Thor Odinson?” Loki had never thought his own face could distort as much as it did now. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but at the last fertility festival you slept with people for – what was it? Seven hours straight?”

“Your memory is admirable,” Thor murmured, “but that doesn’t change the fact that I need that potency remedy. I can’t keep up with him! It’s for myself, not for Bruce, only a creep would do that.”

Loki did not feel qualified to answer that.

“Please,” Thor begged with a whisper. “I’m ruining all the fun he has! It’s like he’s blowing off everything’s that’s been bottled-up for the past decade, although I love to do that with him, but every time his eyes turn green, he’s becoming insatiable and climbs me like a tree, and-”

“ _That_ is too much information,” Loki called and turned around on his heels to flee. He felt his blood scream at the images his brother had just planted into his head.

“Loki,” he heard Thor hiss from behind. “ _Loki!_ ”

Romancing Midgardian monsters – the whole affair had gotten out of hand. It had been bad before, but now that the two were a couple it was definitely worse, and Thor’s request just now took the biscuit. Any sane person would have left this ship long ago.

If neither Thor nor Bruce Banner went inside the brig, then maybe Loki should move in there. It was the ship’s most secure place; it seemed the sensible thing to do.

“I’m so sorry for what you now must to see every day,” he said to Heimdall later that night when they watched the ship’s path from the bridge. Heimdall’s silence was benevolent, like in the old days. Loki turned to look ahead instead. The space outside the window was rich with stars, and he softened in their light.

For every crazy thing that happened on this ship daily, they all were welcomed out here, every single passenger. Maybe these were their true lives. Maybe this was how things were always meant to be, he thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Epilogue is the Hulk gets his piece of Thor too, of course. ♡
> 
> Thank you for reading!! Please leave kudos or a comment if you liked it <3


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